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The Butcher post

An ancient trade, whose duties may date back to the domestication of livestock, butchers formed guilds in England as far back as 1272.[3] Today, many jurisdictions offer trade certifications for butchers. Some areas expect a three-year apprenticeship followed by the option of becoming a master butcher.

Thans for doing this! I love seeing all the old pics, and hope more vendors get back to the old ways. It's hard to find stores around here that will cut meat for you; most arrives already cut up, and only with certain parts/ pieces.

M F Mullins - Champion Beef Dresser of the World

I was fascinated with the story as well as how eerily similar his appearance is to our Chef Niloc (Colin).

I forwarded the picture to Colin who couldn't deny the similarities and responded that he was going to grow that same mustache. Funny thing is that those of us who know Colin can see even more similarities than just the look they share.

I thought that maybe you guys/gals might be interested in hearing the story of M.F. Mullins, "The Champion Beef Dresser of the World".

Thanks to Jim for sharing this with me.

The King of Butchers.

I here present to the reader the biography and record of the great butcher champion, M. F. Mullins, of Chicago. Mr. Mullins was born in Canandaigua, N. Y., in 1863. He moved west with his parents in 1869, settling in Hammond, Lake county, Indiana. At the age of 18 years Mr. Mullins started out in life for himself, and chose for his vocation the butcher business. He commenced his apprenticeship with the firm of Swift & Co., when their cattle business did not exceed sixty head per day. He has been in the service of this company continuously since, and has seen the business increase to the present capacity of 7,000 head per day. After eight years service with the company he was promoted to the posi- tion of foreman, which he has held.tc- the present day. His first contest took place in the Exposition building in Chicago, Illinois, August 22d, 1883, there being eight contestants for prizes, as follows: First prize, gold medal, valued at $250: second prize, $100; third prize, $50. The contest- ants worked their bullocks in the following order:

Min. Sec. Walter Dennis, Bridgeport, 111. 7 39

William Rader, Bridgeport, 111. 7 54

Michael Sheck, Armour & Co., Chicago, 6 12

M. F. Mullins, Swift & Co., Chicago, 4 5

Pete Magee, Bridgeport, 111. 8 40

Rod Laverty, Boston, Mass. 3 38

Frank Noonan, Armour & Co. 8 40

Joe Malone, Bridgeport, 111. 12 22

This contest was principally considered on the best time made; good work was not regarded. Rod Laverty lost first prize by a foul claimed for not skinning out one hind leg. Mr. Mullins was awarded first prize,

UNION STOCK YARDS AND SLAUGHTER HOUSES. 13

Rod Laverty second, and Michael Sheck third. This contest was before an audience of about three thousand people.

. This mode of contest has been discontinued, owing to the unsatis- factory work done. It is now supplanted by contests under American rules, which are as follows:

1. There shall be three judges, who shall be considered fairminded and honorable men, and thoroughly acquainted with the business.

2. Cattle shall weigh not less than 1,400 pounds.

3. Contestants will be allowed eight minutes to dress the bullock; judges to call time when the bullock is drawn up, front feet off and right hindleg broken; dresser to call time when finished.

4. After dresser calls time he will not be allowed near carcass or hide until after judges have made their inspection when, by having every- thing perfect, dresser will be credited with 100 points in time of eight minutes; points to be considered as follows:

1st. For opening, reining and siding bullock, 15 points.

2d. " leging, 5 points.

3d. " rumping and backing 15 points.

4th. " splitting, 15 points.

5th. " clearing shank and dropping hide, 10 points.

6th. " time, 20 points.

7th. " general neatness. 10 points.

8th. ' condition of hide, 10 points.

This constitutes the 100 points to credit. The following points will be deducted for the following defects: Twenty points off for every minute over the allotted eight minutes, and ten points in his favor for every minute less than allotted time. Under these rules Mr. Mullins's second match took place October 19,1887, at the Exposition building in Chicago. 111., with the exception that twenty-five minutes instead of eight were allowed to dress the bullock. There were nine contestants in this match. The judges were men of good standing and judgment and decided to the sat- isfaction of contestants and audience. One of them was from Boston, one from New York and one from Chicago.

14 A TRIP THROUGH THE

Min. Sec. Points.

Mr. Mullins won first prize, $100, 10 97

Larry Noonan won second, $50, 12 94

Joe Smith won third. $25, 11 45 81

At this contest there were over 3,000 people. These American rules which governed this contest as well as all others since bring out a better class of workmen, who find it to their advantage to do good work, be- sides being swift.

Mr. Mullins's third match took place in the Exposition building, Chi- cago, 111., October I5th, 1889, before an audience of 8,000 people. Mr. Mullins worked his bullock last, and after the decision was given by the judges, there was great shouting by Mr. Mullins's admirers. Three cheers- were then given for the champion beef dresser of the world, Mr. M. F. Mullins. After the excitement had quieted down Mr. Mullins thanked the judges and audience in a neat little speech, also his coworkers. Then Mr. G. F. Swift walked up to the judges's stand and presented Mr. Mul- . lins with a handsome roll of bills. He was closely followed by Mr. E. C. Swift, of Boston, who also gave Mr. Mullins another roll of bills in ad- miration of his skill and activity as a beef dresser, and for so nobly rep- resenting their firm in the contest. The prizes were as follows:

Mr. Mullins's fourth contest took place in Union Park, San Fran- cisco, Cal., May i8th, 1890, before an audience of 12,000 people, for $1,000. This contest was between Mr. Mullins and Mr. Westphall, of San Francisco, who was champion of the Pacific slope. The match was under the same rules as the two preceding contests, excepting that con- testants were allowed but eight minutes to dress the bullock instead of twenty-five. In the toss for choice of bullocks Mr. Westphall won, and in the toss for working last Mr. Mullins won. The time was as follows:.

After the judges had inspected the bullocks it was found that Mr. Westphall had done very poor splitting and siding and had scored the hide greatly, for which he lost several points. Four proprietors of the largest tanneries in San Francisco inspected Mr. Mullins's hide and pro- nounced it as being the best work done on any hide ever taken off in the country. Mr. Mullins was then declared winner and the champion of the world, being presented with a fine gold medal.

Mr. Mullins's fifth and last match took place at Willow Springs, -Chicago, July 26th, 1890, under the auspices qf the County Commission- ers of Cook County, Illinois, in honor of Governor Palmer, who was at that time a candidate for the United States Senate, and has since been -elected. This contest was between Mr. Westphall and Mr. Mullins. Mr. Westphall still thought he could beat Mr. Mullins and win back some of the money lost in the previous contest, as well as the champion- ship honors. The audience numbered 15,000 people. In this race Mr. Westphall got choice of bullocks again and worked first. Time as fol- lows:

In this as in all other cases, all was excitement when the decision was made. Mr. Westphall made an eloquent speech declaring that Mr. Mullins was his superior, and that he had had a fair and square match both in San Francisco and Chicago. He also added that he was confi- dent there was not a man in this country who could beat Mr. Mullins in a beef dressing contest. Mr. Mullins was then presented with a fine gold watch by the four County Commissioners, valued at $250, and Mr. West- phall was presented with $200 in cash as a token of sincere regard for his good work, he being the only man who gave Mr. Mullins a close fight.

If you'd like to read more on the details of how the Union Stockyards operated in the 19th century you can check out http://www.archive.org/stream/tript... which is where I obtained the above information on M.F. Mullins. There's some very interesting reading there for sure.